It's a Golden Life

Donovan and I celebrated our 5th wedding anniversary this Friday, the 26th. We were able to have a kid free weekend-thanks to his parents! We decided to go camping in Branson at the Wilderness. It was so fun! We left Friday evening at 6 and arrived in time to set up camp before dark. We were the only campers all weekend! We went and saw "The Planet of the Apes" in an Imax theatre. It was both of our first experiences with an Imax and we were blown away. While we were waiting for the movie to start, we did a few calculations. Our house is about 1,500 sq. ft. The Imax screen was over 4,800 sq. ft. Our house could have fit on the screen 3 times over. That is insane! The monkeys were gigantic and the movie was pretty good :) Saturday we decided to sleep in! We slept all the way until 7:30...a.m. Ha! I guess that's sleeping in for us now. After we went and ate breakfast- We lounged around the campsite, went swimming, watched movies on the Ipad, read. We also got a li...

Pregnancy Highlights How far along: 28 weeks. Started my 3rd trimester this week (I thought it was 27...it's 28!)! Size of Baby Pax: About the size of a Chinese Cabbage. Weighs about 2.25 lbs and measures about 14.8 inches. Maternity clothes: All maternity shorts, dresses and long shirts. Found some good deals on tank tops this weekend :) Gender: Didn't find out! Names: Girl- Paxley JoyAnna Golden Boy- Paxton John Calvin Golden Getting Ready: Stock up on Newborn-Size 2 diapers. Find a couple more cute neutral outfits. Make "Pax" beanie for hospital. Movement: Very active baby now! Loves when I eat :) Sleeping: Baby seems to have moved off my sciatic nerve...for now. What I miss: Sleeping on my stomach. Cravings: Lots of fresh fruits and veggies. Symptoms: Some very noticeable Braxton Hicks. Weight Gained: Gained 25.8 pounds. Due Date: Scheduled the birth at the last doctors appointment. If I make it this far: November 21, ...

The time has come. I think I am a borderline hoarder. I have dreams of keeping this bedding for Malachi in hopes that he one day gets married and wants to use his perfect condition crib bedding for his children. That's if God wants him married. That's if he even has children. So, instead of keeping it in a zipped, airproof package for another 20 years, I am parting ways. I guess you really can't take crib bedding with you after you die, now can you? And Zanzibar jungle theme does NOT really match rocket ships...or birds... We loved this bedding set for Malachi. It is called Zanzibar. We bought it from Kid's Quarters. It comes with the matching lamp, rug, 2 sets of matching Zanzibar curtains, a lion head that hangs on the wall and matching wall hangings. Included in the crib set is the quilt, bumper pads, fitted sheet and diaper stacker. The whole set is very neutral and could be used for either a girl or boy. We adore this set and you can still ...

Pregnancy Highlights How far along: 27 weeks. Started my 3rd trimester today! Size of Baby Pax: About the size of a head of cauliflower. Weighs about 2 lbs and measures about 14.5 inches. Maternity clothes: All maternity shorts, dresses and long shirts. I'm in the market for a Bella Band and some new shirts :) Gender: Didn't find out! Names: Girl- Paxley JoyAnna Golden Boy- Paxton John Calvin Golden Getting Ready: Stock up on Newborn-Size 2 diapers. Find a couple more cute neutral outfits. Make "Pax" beanie for hospital. Movement: A lot of leg movement. Pax's heels have found my ribs. Weird flutters above my pelvic bone. Baby seems to favor my left side. Sleeping: Still depends-sometimes the bed is just so comfortable! Other times... What I miss: I kind of want some soda! Cravings: Lots of fresh fruits and veggies. Sweet tea :) Symptoms: Passed my Glucose test (YAY!) but doctor said I am anemic, so I need to start taking more ir...

I have been contemplating how to organize our little details of life into a managable form. It is often difficult for me to keep up with the million little tasks of every day. Just this morning while I was going over the preschool lesson with the kids, I was day dreaming about cleaning my windows with windex and newspaper and mopping my kitchen floor with hot water and bleach. I quickly realized this and snapped back to reality. The reality is: I need a handy dandy notebook. I would like to gather my recipes, chore lists, food menus, finances (budget) and all the other little loose ends to keep track of. I am going to begin compiling a binder of all these details of our life. That way-I can shop in bulk instead of every week (except for milk and produce), I can pay all the bills with the paper copy at hand and a copy of the budget easily available and plan better. I also feel that if I had a chore list of daily, weekly and monthly duties, I will get them accomplished timely a...

Pregnancy Highlights How far along: 25 weeks. Size of Baby Pax: About the size of a rutabega (I had to look this one up!). Weighs about 1.5 lbs and measures about 13.5 inches. Maternity clothes: All maternity shorts, dresses and long shirts. Baby has come out of my pelvis and cause my belly to pop out! Gender: Didn't find out! Names: Girl- Paxley JoyAnna Golden Boy- Paxton John Calvin Golden Getting Ready: Going to use Halynd's crib bedding if a girl. Got a neutral hospital outfit. Donovan actually looked at baby clothes with me! (Boy ones of course) Cleaned all the carpets! Will do again in November :) Goals: Stock up on Newborn-Size 2 diapers. Find a couple more cute neutral outfits. Make "Pax" beanie for hospital. Movement: Starting to get hiccups. If I lean on my belly and happen to squish Pax, that baby sure tells me! Sleeping: Depends. Some nights I sleep great. Other nights I wake often and am very uncomfortable. What I miss: Peanu...

Pregnancy Highlights How far along: 24 weeks. Size of Baby Pax: About the size of an ear of corn. Weighs about 1.25 lb and measures about 12.5 inches. Maternity clothes: All maternity shorts, dresses and long shirts. This baby is SO low! Gender: Didn't find out! Names: Girl- Paxley Anna Elizabeth Golden Boy- Paxton John Calvin Golden Getting Ready: Picked out bedding. Got a neutral hospital outfit. Got another outfit for $2.24 at Target! It's pink :) Goals: Stock up on Newborn-Size 2 diapers. Find a couple more cute neutral outfits. Make "Pax" beanie for hospital. Movement: Lots of movement. Painful jabs from elbows, feet, head and butt. Sleeping: Figured out how to sleep comfortably. But that has changed! I'm not sure-must just depend on how the baby is laying? What I miss: Peanut butter! (Causes major heartburn!) Cravings: Lots of fresh fruits and veggies. And of course there's pop tarts and everything else I shouldn'...

Pregnancy Highlights How far along: 23 weeks. Size of Baby Pax: About the size of a large mango. Weighs about 1.1 lb and measures about 11.5 inches. Maternity clothes: All maternity shorts, dresses and long shirts. This baby is SO low! Gender: Didn't find out! Names: Girl- Paxley Anna Elizabeth Golden Boy- Paxton John Calvin Golden Baby Goals/Accomplished: Picked out bedding. Got a neutral hospital outfit. Goals: Stock up on Newborn-Size 2 diapers. Find a couple more cute neutral outfits. Make "Pax" beanie for hospital. Movement: Lots of movement. Strange, but mostly on the left side and just above my pelvic bone. Sleeping: Figured out how to sleep comfortably. One pillow under my head, on my side with a pillow between my knees. OR on my back with a pillow under my knees with just one pillow under my head. It relieves back pressure really well. What I miss: Mexican food! Cravings: Lots of fresh fruits and veggies. And the occasional Strawberry Toaster Strudel :) Sympto...